The Showdown of the ‘Super Teams’

The shakeup to the system as we know it has seen the roster for the 2019 CrossFit Games stacked with so-called “super teams.” The Teams competition – once described by commentators as a “controlled riot” – one could argue is now set to rival the main event.

But first: Invictus Boston just announced they’ve tapped Kaitlyn Kassis to replace Meg Reardon who will take her individual invite instead. Kassis competed on Invictus X’s Games team last year.

Invictus Boston in a statement to Morning Chalk Up: “Invictus Boston is excited to announce that the newest addition to their team will be Invictus Athlete Kaitlyn Kassis. Kaitlyn has been in the Invictus family for a long time and took second place at the Games with Invictus X last year. Invictus Boston is looking forward to the Games and continuing showing the world that they are a dominant force despite the changes to this season.”

The set list is now set in stone.

If you struggled to keep up with team reshuffles throughout Sanctionals, you’re not alone. The line-ups are now finalized and this is how the top 14 teams will take to the field.

Even though Haley Adams is competing as an individual she’s still listed on Mayhem’s roster as an alternate in case somethig were to happen. She confirmed this to us in an email: “I am 100% committed to competing as an individual at the 2019 Games…I have committed to Rich and the team if something were to happen, then would go and compete with Mayhem Freedom.”

The last minute changes.

Invictus Boston was claiming “third time’s a charm” in qualifying through the final sanctioned event The French Throwdown. Meg Reardon helped Invictus Boston gain the final qualifying spot in Paris, but decided to accept her invite as an individual from winning the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Championship, a decision which came as a bit of a surprise to the organization.

There was also talk of a potential reshuffle with the Invictus X squad, after speculation both Kristi Eramo and Margaux Alvarez had no intention of returning to the 2019 CrossFit Games.

Holden Rethwill told the Morning Chalk Up: “Our team is committed to living balanced lives … we can still compete well without draining ourselves in the gym on a daily basis. We’re all on the same page with it … along with how much fun we all had at the Granite Games.”

How the ‘Super Teams’ stack up.

The top three podium finishers from 2018 return — Mayhem Freedom, Invictus X and CrossFit OC3 — although none are without changes.

In fact – alternates aside – not one team has competed together with the same four athletes at the Games before. Vondelgym, OC3 and Pro1 would be the closest with three quarters of the team unchanged.

The collective Games experience of these super teams is stacked. Here are the top teams in terms of combined appearances:

Mayhem Freedom and X-Terminators: 17 Games appearances

Invictus X, CrossFit Krypton and Don’t Stop: 15 Games appearances

Invictus: 14 Games appearances

OC3 Black: 11 Games appearances

Project X: 10 Games appearances

What to expect? Right now we know very little, but with the field being narrowed from 40 teams to just 14, Games Director Dave Castro should have more freedom to experiment with competition without having to program for as many teams.

The field has narrowed from programming for 160 athletes last year to just 56, which is less than the 80 athlete individual field in 2018. Castro now has a completely blank slate for testing new implements at the team level.

There has never been a team bike event, largely because of the logistics of outfitting 160 athletes with bikes.

There would be more space to use other odd objects like the snail, slug or pig. Imagine a MF pair snail or slug that’s slightly heavier and wider.